Rod Strickland

Three hours and 15 minutes after practice began Sunday morning, Drew Gooden and Steven Hunter still were working on low-post, scoring moves. Gordan Giricek was shooting at the other end of the gym. Rod Strickland was walking gingerly as he came out of the weight room, obviously fatigued. No one was running for the exit door -- not yet, anyway. The 15 consecutive losses have sapped their confidence, riddled their hopes, exposed a flawed, off-season game plan, but the Orlando Magic still have hopes of salvaging the season.

NEW YORK -- NBA fans everywhere remember the video clip of the Philadelphia 76ers' Allen Iverson protesting a benching by Coach Larry Brown for missing practice. But practice is where Brown works his magic by teaching, lecturing and cajoling that players do things "the right way." Before the ink was dry on Brown's new reported four-year contract with the New York Knicks, cynics were predicting a reprise of that battle of wills, with point guard Stephon Marbury stepping into Iverson's sneakers.

Neither team walked out of the MCI Center Sunday afternoon thinking it was in the driver's seat for a playoff spot. But the Washington Wizards did manage to ride their Hot Rod to an 88-85 victory over the Orlando Magic.Rod Strickland finished with a triple-double - 21 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds - to inch the Wizards (38-37) past the Magic (37-38) into ninth place in the Eastern Conference playoff race. The victory places Washington a half-game behind the New Jersey Nets (38-36), who occupy the eighth and last playoff spot.

INDIANAPOLIS -- It didn't figure, it didn't add up and it certainly didn't make a bit of sense. Any Magic victory these days stuns you, but this . . . this was looney tunes. "Crazy," Drew Gooden called it. The worst team in the East beat the best team in the East on Wednesday night: Magic 94, Indiana Pacers 90. The Magic's biggest win of the season -- OK, a 5-21 record makes them easy to count -- came under the most improbable circumstances. It would have to, wouldn't it? Here's all it took to pull it off against the 19-7 Pacers at Conseco Fieldhouse: Rod Strickland, 37, who was out of the league until last month, hit the game-winning 15-foot jump-shot.

Desperate to reverse their slide before it buries the season, the Orlando Magic signed 37-year-old veteran Rod Strickland on Tuesday, hoping his experience at point guard can help end this 13-game losing streak. Strickland has been in the league longer than Orlando has had a basketball team, playing now in his eighth NBA city. There is little he hasn't seen while on both good teams and bad. Although he has averaged 13.8 points and 7.6 assists in his 15 years, Strickland is well past his prime, averaging just 6.8 points and 4.6 assists in Minnesota last season.

INDIANAPOLIS -- It didn't figure, it didn't add up, and it certainly didn't make a bit of sense. Any Magic victory these days stuns you, but this . . . this was Looney Tunes. "Crazy," Drew Gooden called it. The worst team in the East beat the best team in the East on Wednesday night: Magic 94, Indiana Pacers 90. The Magic's biggest win of the season -- OK, a 5-21 record makes them easy to count -- came under the most improbable circumstances. It would have to, wouldn't it? Here's all it took to pull it off against the 19-7 Pacers at Conseco Fieldhouse: Rod Strickland, 37, who was out of the league until last month, hit the game-winning 15-footer.

Juwan Howard found he could come home again - and pocket a $100 million contract to boot.Howard was as close as one could possibly be to becoming a member of the Miami Heat this summer before the NBA voided the deal with the cap-tight Heat. It was a tremendous break for the Washington Bullets on two fronts.Faced with losing Howard, the Bullets made themselves respectable by acquiring point guard Rod Strickland, forward Harvey Grant, forward Tracy Murray and forward/center Lorenzo Williams.

Rod Strickland, San Antonio Spurs guard, on New York Knicks General Manager Al Bianchi, who traded him for Maurice Cheeks two weeks ago: ''Bianchi's crazy. He'd love for me to screw up in San Antonio, just to make him look good, but I'll guarantee I'll be haunting him for a long, long time.''

ROD STRICKLAND, the New York Knicks' No. 1 pick in the NBA draft, signed a multiyear contract. The deal is expected to be worth $900,000 over three years. Strickland declared himself eligible for the draft after his junior season at DePaul.

Tracy McGrady giggled and bobbed to the beat during timeouts. Drew Gooden hit a 3-pointer and grinned all the way up court. Rookie Zaza Pachulia bounced off some of his teammates when chasing rebounds, causing coaches to chuckle. The Magic beat the Golden State Warriors 119-93 on Friday night in their first laugher of a not-so-funny season. They are holding onto the reins of an authentic hot streak, recording their fifth victory in their past seven games. And, oh, what fun it is to ride.

Nothing like putting some pressure on your successor. Former Orlando Magic coach Doc Rivers said Thursday that he wouldn't be surprised if the team makes the playoffs this season. "I do think they're one of the top eight teams in the East," Rivers said. "We just got off to such a horrific start." The Magic snapped their 19-game winless streak last week and have won four of their past six. Johnny Davis replaced Rivers midway through the streak. "They've turned the corner, and now I think they're going to be fine," Rivers said.

INDIANAPOLIS -- It didn't figure, it didn't add up, and it certainly didn't make a bit of sense. Any Magic victory these days stuns you, but this . . . this was Looney Tunes. "Crazy," Drew Gooden called it. The worst team in the East beat the best team in the East on Wednesday night: Magic 94, Indiana Pacers 90. The Magic's biggest win of the season -- OK, a 5-21 record makes them easy to count -- came under the most improbable circumstances. It would have to, wouldn't it? Here's all it took to pull it off against the 19-7 Pacers at Conseco Fieldhouse: Rod Strickland, 37, who was out of the league until last month, hit the game-winning 15-footer.

INDIANAPOLIS -- It didn't figure, it didn't add up and it certainly didn't make a bit of sense. Any Magic victory these days stuns you, but this . . . this was looney tunes. "Crazy," Drew Gooden called it. The worst team in the East beat the best team in the East on Wednesday night: Magic 94, Indiana Pacers 90. The Magic's biggest win of the season -- OK, a 5-21 record makes them easy to count -- came under the most improbable circumstances. It would have to, wouldn't it? Here's all it took to pull it off against the 19-7 Pacers at Conseco Fieldhouse: Rod Strickland, 37, who was out of the league until last month, hit the game-winning 15-foot jump-shot.

Orlando Magic players, coaches and team personnel thought their luck had changed after ending a 19-game losing streak. Not so. One of the buses broke down outside the team hotel, and several players opted to take taxis to the arena Wednesday to play the Washington Wizards. "Yeah, if we still had that losing streak, you'd really think something was up," said Magic TV analyst Jack Givens, who was on the bus that died. A bus that left earlier came back for the rest of the party. But it scraped concrete along the side of the hotel and became wedged briefly between a wall and another vehicle.

DIKEMBE MUTOMBO of the Denver Nuggets was named NBA player of the week after averaging 12.3 points, 13.3 rebounds and 8 blocked shots and recording consecutive triple-doubles. Other candidates for the award were Horace Grant and Scottie Pippen of Chicago, Hakeem Olajuwon of Houston, Vlade Divac of the Los Angeles Lakers, Steve Smith of Miami, and Rod Strickland of Portland.

MIAMI -- Shareef Abdul-Rahim had 34 points and 11 rebounds as the Atlanta Hawks beat the Miami Heat 76-73. Abdul-Rahim had his second-highest point total of the season. He scored 50 points against the Detroit Pistons in November. The Heat, who got 16 points apiece from Rod Strickland and Eddie Jones, had their three-game winning streak snapped. The Heat trailed 39-37 at halftime. Hawks 76, Heat 73

Three hours and 15 minutes after practice began Sunday morning, Drew Gooden and Steven Hunter still were working on low-post, scoring moves. Gordan Giricek was shooting at the other end of the gym. Rod Strickland was walking gingerly as he came out of the weight room, obviously fatigued. No one was running for the exit door -- not yet, anyway. The 15 consecutive losses have sapped their confidence, riddled their hopes, exposed a flawed, off-season game plan, but the Orlando Magic still have hopes of salvaging the season.

Desperate to reverse their slide before it buries the season, the Orlando Magic signed 37-year-old veteran Rod Strickland on Tuesday, hoping his experience at point guard can help end this 13-game losing streak. Strickland has been in the league longer than Orlando has had a basketball team, playing now in his eighth NBA city. There is little he hasn't seen while on both good teams and bad. Although he has averaged 13.8 points and 7.6 assists in his 15 years, Strickland is well past his prime, averaging just 6.8 points and 4.6 assists in Minnesota last season.